Cognitive Satisfaction
by shirii
Summary: In the distant future, if two wish to find their soulmate, they must undergo a brain scan to find their perfect match. She was beautiful and weird; he was handsome and everything but weird. Together, they're definitely something - but meant to be? [SxS]
1. Chapter 1

**[ the panacea ]**

The waiting room was filled with a toxic silent atmosphere. The tension was enough pressure to consume herself in second thoughts. Maybe this isn't it. Maybe she should walk out the door _right _now. But it was almost too late; she cursed herself because she had just turned in the forms without any further thought. These people already have her SSN, insurance policy number, and her home address tracked down.

"Kinomoto Sakura?" The robotic voice from one of the LED monitors hung against the walls beckoned her to report to one of the patient rooms.

She gulped in fear as she scrunched her thinly veiled hospital gown enough to turn her knuckles pale. Funny thing was, she'd walk out perfectly untouched and scrap-free – physically unharmed. She wasn't going to get a transplant or have her skin pried open, but her anxiety centered around the fact that she was going to instantaneously change her whole future. She would meet someone who would make her future whole.

"Sakura, I've never been happier in my life if it weren't for the procedure." Tomoyo hung her head over her fiancé's shoulder as she landed a quick peck on his cheek. The glimmer of the engagement ring was enough to temporarily blind her.

"I could tell."

The two had suffocated Sakura with their puppy love and sappy life advice for the past two and half years. Of course, she was in full support for them to tie the knot but it was sickening to her single status to be a third-wheeler. How the hell was it even possible to be in a never-ending honeymoon stage relationship?

Eriol let out a short laugh at Sakura's displeasure. "Don't forget to ask for Dr. Yue. He's probably my second best man." He gently slid a holographic business card across the coffee table as she reluctantly tucked it in her purse.

Sakura gave an unexpected dry laugh but for a different reason those they would assume. Never has she seen him hang out with any male friends because he was practically a magnet to Tomoyo. "Hm, let's see. I could buy five year's worth of home entertainment streaming, a smart TV, my own botanical garden, a new condo, ten bottles of -"

"Don't think of it as a price tag. Think of it as an investment." Tomoyo said as-a-matter-of-fact.

The girl had a cunning sense of logic who could practically put the whole world in her hands. Unfortunately, or fortunately, her keen sense of manipulation was only used for the goodness of her best friend.

"Look guys, I appreciate the support but you can't really say it's a hundred percent accurate. Whatever happens, happens. I could just bump into someone on the streets, take them out to dinner, and start a new life from there!"

That's how her parents met, anyway. A stereotypical yet unlikely "meet-cute" situation where her mother clumsily tripped on a wet floor of the dairy aisle and her father caught her bridal style "as though an angel fell from the sky," he would frequently retell.

"She's a little outdated." Tomoyo whispered to Eriol. He slightly nodded in response as he laced her hands into his. "Uhm, Sakura."

She crossed her legs on her friend's living room sofa and sighed, "Call me old fashion -" She gestured her hand in a closing-the-zipper motion the second the two opened their mouths and shot them a glare. "but anything combining technology and love is anything but romantic."

Eriol shook his head at her ignorance. "This isn't eHarmony and this isn't some bogus lab experiment. It's universally acceptable to the public nowadays."

The endorsement of technology completely consuming social lives irritated her. She swore pop culture was going against her liking these days and this came from the girl who's subscribed to overzealous e-magazines. The highest grossing chick flicks started to consist of a man falling in love with his home operating system (she shuddered).

"Give me a year."

Annnd what did Kinomoto Sakura accomplish in that year? Three failed short term relationships, all coming to a concluding consensus that they were going to try out the brain scan, love-matching, voo-doo machine. Third charm only became a charm to Tomoyo.

"Kinomoto Sakura, right?" The doctor closed the door behind him as he entered, snapping her out of her daze.

Or maybe snapped her back into her daydreams. She gave an incredulous look and tried to keep her composure together. There was a possibility at that moment of awe her apprehension diminished. What she was doing again? Oh yeah, about to bask her body in radiation. But this, this fine young gentleman could be of par to those on a medical drama.

He was probably two and half heads taller in her metric system. Something about him gave an angelic aura, practically lighting up the entire dim room. His silvery metallic hair grazed upon his fair skin, almost too fair, but maybe this guy was a dermatologist too. His shoulders were broad and body was well-built underneath his white medical attire but it perfectly complimented his gentle face.

"D-Dr. Yue?" She stammered. _'Damn, Sakura! Get a hold of yourself!' _She was feeling like a little Japanese schoolgirl and it was torturous.

He smiled and walked up to her with a brightly thin tablet in his hand. "That's me." And so he moved even closer and held her chin up, looking deeply into her emerald eyes.

She shut her eyes tightly. She legitimately found herself in some sort of medical drama situation. A successfully charming doctor alone with the stoical patient. Turn on the twinkling background, a ballad soundtrack, and this would definitely be worth her two year's salary.

"Hm, you seem healthy to me and judging by your records you're good to go. The procedure will take several hours but about an hour to get the results. Do you have any specific requirements?" He asked as he was ready to write with his touch pen.

"Can it be you?" She responded drearily.

"I beg your pardon?"

Sakura opened one eye and realized he wasn't in front of her anymore. Not sure what to say, she tried to cover up without thinking. "Uh. Tall, dark and handsome?"

"Got it!"

She gawked as she saw him take note. She wanted to take it back immediately because she was ethnically against the system of finding your absolute _perfect _soulmate. It's like cheating God!

"Oh, this isn't cheating the Him at all. It's simply making it easier for His creations to find one another." He let out a short laugh. "Gender? Location? Ethnicity?"

_'How did he...' _She was taken back. _'Whatever.' _"Tomoeda would be nice so distance won't be a problem, I don't really care about ethnicity and male, please."

"All right, then! I need you to lay on that table over there and an assistant and I'll connect you to an IV. Make sure you've removed all of your jewelry and you lie as still as possible so the pictures won't turn out blurry. We'll be looking at your entire personality, cognitively. After you're done, drink plenty of water so you can rehydrate."

"Sounds good." Sakura said meekly as he was about to set up the machine.

She kept her eyes shut the entire time in hopes she would catch up with her beauty sleep. The copious hours she was indebted could have added up to a month's worth of hibernation. Instead, she found herself an endless void to the point where she wasn't sure if she were sleeping or delving in a pit of daydreams.

Then the sudden realization came to her – a back-up plan. She grinned to herself like psycho behind bars. If the results made her end up with someone she was unhappy with, she was going straight out of town to buy a cat. Make that plural.

Slowly the machine started to turn off on its own, sliding the bed low enough for her to see the luminescence of the ceiling lights. Her eyes squinted and she groaned as she stretched her arms, making a little popping sounds. Her vision was blurred until she was able to discern the silver-haired man. Even throughout the few hours, she kept her fingers crossed in hopes he was the one.

"Here are the results. It's all printed out for you but just to let you know, we were not given permission to disclose the exact address of your potential mate." He handed her the thin small manila envelope which had another one of his holographic business cards attached.

Sakura shoved the envelope to the bottom of her purse then rubbed her temples with much pressure. "Dr. Yue," She tried to keep a good impression as much as possible. "Then what the hell was the point in asking me for a location?"

"Well, I would have given you an exact address but both of you didn't bother to allow that on the forms. By law, I'm not permitted to do that. Sorry Kinomoto, but I'm an honest man and I can't break confidentiality." Dr. Yue sighed and put his hand on her shoulder which allowed her to ease up. "He's in Tomoeda nearby so you'll eventually find him or maybe he'll find you." Obviously, for a man who went to med school he couldn't tell just how big Tomoeda was.

Sakura was under so much anxiety at the moment that her eyes were heavily glossed in a coat of water and trust her, she could never handle stress well. She had just spent, no, _wasted_ five hours of her life, hadn't eaten anything the entire day, and let's not forget blew her two year's salary for this – only to figure out she was dumb enough not to read over some forms carefully! And the other guy at the end of the stick was even dumber for doing the same! She'd always be berated for not reading the directions correctly when it came to exams but this was the greatest extent.

Now she had to waste even _more _time (and time means money!) just trying to look for this guy all over Tomoeda and there was that fat chance he wouldn't always be in Tomoeda. Her heart was racing and for the stupidest reasons.

Because for a good moment, she really wanted to meet this guy

"Forget it." It just didn't seem worth it in her eyes anymore. What can she say? She had a tendency to give up in the middle of things.

"Sakura," Dr. Yue handed her a tissue. "You have all the information you need. Name, birth date, weight, height, eye-color -"

"So basically everything on his driver's license?" She croaked in annoyance as if she didn't get what she paid for. Not even where he works? A simple biography?

"Except the license number and picture." He gave out a sardonic chuckle and took two steps back. "And well, address."

A loud screech echoed throughout the halls of the hospital causing most of the nurses to freeze and look at each other with raised eyebrows.

Sakura stammered down the walkway of stares with a few teardrops falling from her emerald gems. She was in desperate need to punch someone or even better, have someone punch her. She made her way to the glass elevator that gave the best high definition view of Tomoeda's landscape, which she completely ignored, and relentlessly pressed the button for the first floor. Just her luck, handsome money-making Dr. Yue happened to be on the highest floor – the thirtieth, Sakura's lucky number of cats she planned to have.

Just as the elevator doors were about to close, someone abruptly made their way in, interrupting Sakura's lightly sobbing fits.

She froze for a moment to acknowledge his presence.

He was tall and broad shouldered with a tousled mop of chocolate brown hair and a set of heavy, solemn eyebrows which contrasted with his boyish grin. He looked as though he came out of a semi-casual business meeting with a crisp dress shirt and pants along with a black bomber jacket. In a nonchalant manner, he took a step inside and stood beside her and leaned down to examine her face intensely, piercing Sakura with his fiery amber eyes.

Meeting Dr. Yue and this guy in one day, she came to a conclusion that she hated being analyzed.

"Are you okay?" He asked in a concerned tone but his velvety voice was nearly enough for her to achieve ASMR.

She nodded in shock. Half of which due to his physical attractiveness and the other half because he had the decency to make contact with her.

Her eyes were still teary and puffy. Her nose was red. Her hair was a mess. She was stressed as hell. Tomoyo did say she made the best first impressions.

Holy. Freaking. Why was everyone in this building so damn attractive? The doctors, nurses, and patients were at least an 8.5/10 in her scale. It was like these people popped out of her television set. She put a reminder in the back of her mind to check if this hospital wasn't currently used for production.

"W-what are you here for?" She didn't know what she saying. Something in her unconscious was trying to make out words so on the way down wouldn't be filled with her sniffles.

"Just a check-up."

Sakura realized his gaze was hypnotized by the serene view of Tomoeda in back of her. Though he seemed cheerful at first, he had a pensive straight-face expression most of the time.

As soon as she finally put herself at ease, the elevator came to a halt for the first floor.

"Well, it was nice meeting you. Hope you feel better." He gave her a little salute and a meek smile as he made his way out.

She gave a little wave with a nervous smile in response, but as soon as the doors came to a shut, she let out a horrified gasp. She missed her stop. Sakura looked up to see where the elevator was taking her next then repeatedly banged her head on the glass exterior.

↑ Floor 30

* * *

Thanks for reading! How did you like it?

It's been so long since I've gone through CCS but I just had to after I found out there's going to be a new TRC manga out next month! *_*

Just also wanted to make clear, even though the setting is set "in the distant future" you won't feel much of a difference. Not that I'm trying to ignore it, I just don't see much of a change in like a hundred years. Where are our hover cars, huh?

Heh. Your comments or suggestions will be loved, always. ^_~


	2. Chapter 2

**[ holding aces ]**

Eriol slumped his posture at the edge of the glass counter as he gave a gracious man-hug to the guy in front of him. They were equal height but had completely opposite facial features as Eriol had the gentlest facial features. This man had a strong jawline and a tan complexion with veins easily seen across his forearms. Both men looked as if they had a long day at work with their sleeves rolled up and their ties loosened.

"Syaoran, good to see you!"

The bass music was blaring out of the colored LED flashing surround-sounds. Projected live sports and news broadcasted on each side.

He flashed his white pearls, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to keep still on one of the stools. "Yeah, how long has it been? What the fuck am I saying, I mean, how have you been?" He was hysterical – he hadn't seen his best friend in years and he missed the hell out of Tomoeda.

Oh, how Eriol missed his friend's colorful language.

"Remember the girl I told you about? Tomoyo?" Syaoran turned wide eyed as he saw the engagement band. He felt like he was stuck at age twenty-one for six years now until finding out Eriol was already ready to settle.

"Whoa, congratulations." Syaoran was still a bit taken back, though. "Say, how come you never introduced me to her, huh? After all these years?"

Eriol gave a narrow glare at his smirk. "I'm not going to let you lay a finger on her."

Syaoran rolled his eyes. Good grief, they had a lot of catching up to do. "Eriol, I was surrounded by the entertainment industry all my life, I think I've seen plenty of attractive women."

He cued the young bartender with a slicked back combover and black bow tie with the look of "give me a shot of 'surprise me'."

"I'm planning to stay here for a couple of months just to see how everything's doing. Mother's not going to like it if I stay too long." He quickly consumed the shot of liquor and wiped his lips.

"Always mommy's little Hong Kong baby." Eriol said with a mocking delight at Syaoran shot him a glare enough to seep through his skin. "Anyway," A glimpse of dark violet locks caught the corner of his eye. His heart jumped a beat – couldn't be. He shifted his head a little to the right to give a double-check. And so it was.

He lightly cursed under his breath, unknowingly heard by his friend beside him. Out of all places, out of all people, why? He muttered to Syaoran to hold up for a minute and quickly texted possibly the only emergency contact that fit both his and Tomoyo's books.

_What's Tomoyo doing at the bar?_

In an instant, his phone beeped.

_WHAT?!_

_Pick her up. Now. _

He didn't want to pull her out into his arms just yet. Not just for the sake of causing a scene, but she had no reason to be at a bar. Tomoyo was more of a wine and champagne person. She always brought up her distaste in beer and hard liquor so the possibility of her being drunk at this place was out of question. That just wasn't the Tomoyo he knew. It just wasn't like her to make a fool out of herself. Well, that was Sakura's job!

He prayed to the great Kami-sama that she would take her away sooner and slap the senses out of her. He kept his focus on her from a distance – and the hell was she doing? She was casually talking to groups of tall men then moving on to the next one in light speed.

Syaoran observed his spaced out behavior and squinted on where Eriol displeased eyes were centered on. "I assume that's -"

Out of no where the the raven-haired figure was standing a few inches away from Syaoran. She gently smiled and gave a polite bow, almost causing him to choke on his drink to much surprise as he, too, had just spotted her meters away.

"Hello there, and your name must be?"

"Tomoyo!" She winced as she finally acknowledged the familiar presence. She didn't even notice him! Eriol tried to keep a calm composure as he didn't want to put on a show for his guest. "Tomoyo, please explain yourself before I get a migraine."

She lean down to him and whispered, "Trying to find Sakura's soulmate from the brain scan! It's for the sake of our future children!"

"In the streets of Tomoeda? At midnight?" He fiercely whispered back. "Wait. F-future wha?" Yep, he was getting a migraine.

She turned to the side, not leaving an eye off the chestnut haired man in front of her and smoothly transitioned to her graceful persona. "Daidouji Tomoyo, Eriol's fiancé."

"And founder of Daidouji Designs, if I recall correctly? Li Syaoran, at your service."

_He's not the one. _She smiled meekly because he had such a recognized name around the industry, but not for good reasons nowadays.

In an unforeseen gesture, he knelt down and swiftly grazed a kiss upon her slender fingers. It was enough to bring a slight tint of pink across her cheeks but more than enough to ignite a deep flame of ember along the ears of the man behind him.

Eriol narrowed his eyes behind his round rimmed spectacles and crossed his arms. "Lay off."

The glass paneled doors slammed open in one brisk movement in which a soft gust of the chilly night's air swam through the bar. A good amount of people turned around as fiery auburn-haired woman strutted straight towards the trio. "Jesus Christ, Tomoyo! What the hell are you doing here!" Sakura tightly gripped her wrist and nearly dragged her out the door, ignoring the two men in front of her.

Well.

For a moment.

Helloooooo, handsome #2.

Just when his amber eyes and brown locks caught Sakura's attention, she spun a quick one-eighty degree turn with Tomoyo caught off guard and nearly slipping. "Elevator guy!" She unintentionally pointed curtly at the surprised Syaoran.

Tomoyo turned around in delight, knowing exactly who she was talking about from their previous chat while Eriol raised his eyebrows. "Huh?"

And just when he scanned her up and down twice with an eyebrow smugly raised, the other two beside them perfectly got the note of what he was up to, well, except for Sakura. Eriol stood back and cringed inwardly while Tomoyo held onto his hand for reassurance and giggled.

"H-hoee!" In sheer embarrassment, Sakura let out a yelp as she realized the ridiculous sleepwear she had on – rilakkuma short shorts with the bear's face imprinted right on her behind, a pink youth-sized cat-patterned shirt that barely covered her slim torso, and her make-up less face which revealed her dark under eyes. This was what she called her childish-trampy-sleepwear-whatever look.

Eriol felt a little nauseous as he saw their eyes meet and let out a groan. No way on earth was this a good time for Syaoran to meet his fiancée and his high school ex-crush slash best friend slash technically sister-in-law. He was going to have a nice cup of chai tea the time he gets home.

Tomoyo clapped her two hands together as she ogled over the two lovely specimen in front of her. Two attractive people together equaled good-looking offspring (her type of math)! "I think this is a beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Now, wait a minute. Before you ask how we ended up here, let's backtrack.

.

'Tomoyo entered the apartment with a large squared pink box in her hands. She squinted her eyes in attempt to turn on her nonexistent night-vision, slapping the sides of the wall with one hand to find a light switch. Ah, there it was.

The bright lights illuminated the disastrously disorganized living room. Balls of crumbled paper over flood the small trash can, heaps of clothes layered on the sofa, and dirty dishes mounting the sink. But in a way, contrasting with Tomoyo's primmed and pristine place, this place felt more like home than her own.

"I brought strawberry shortcake." She walked over some unopened boxes and quietly knocked on the bedroom door.

"Come in!"

She could feel the grin behind the barrier. As she walked in, there was a sigh in relief that her friend managed to at least tidy up her own bedroom. It was a simplistic light pink and white color scheme which she helped decorate long ago but winced at the chips seasoning around her mouth and fingertips. Quietly, she sat next to the girl fervently gliding her fingers (with one hand grabbing a handful of chips in her mouth every so often) upon the the keyboard with eyes glued to the laptop as she placed the cake in the middle of her bed.

"Sakura, you shouldn't be so stressed out about this. It was a simple mistake on his side." She smiled reassuringly to her workaholic friend.

"Oh, that?" Sakura scoffed out of all the things Tomoyo read erroneously about her. "Haven't even looked at his name yet. That was just a little trigger or an add-on. I don't know but what I _do _know is that I have a big presentation tomorrow and stupid boss doesn't even bother giving me the data I need!"

Tomoyo rolled her eyes at the fact that _her fiance_ was the stupid boss.

"Ohhh..." Tomoyo frowned as she grabbed two forks, handing one to Sakura as they consumed themselves in the sweetness of the cake. Not a slice, but a whole freaking cake. Usually alone time with her best friend meant no strings attached. Screw table etiquette, napkin dabs, and holding in the burps. With her, she felt the most human.

"Why does everyone have such a problem of me being single?" Sakura was feeling annoyed again. She loved the idea of work and loved it even more making work fun. She had such a flexible schedule and a stable job that she felt no point of wasting her enthusiasm on one man. She wanted to travel the world, not drive a soccer mom car.

"Because out of all the girls I've met," Tomoyo sighed as she nudged her friend on the shoulder. "You're the one that deserves 'the one' the most." It was barely audible, but they both heard it clearly.

The way Sakura laughed her heart out and didn't give a damn what the world thought about her was so appealing yet many found distasteful. The way she was able to start conversations to easily and stand up for her friends were just few of the things she envied about her. They were on opposite ends on personality, the gentle introvert and the exuberant extrovert, but they balanced each other out perfectly.

"Real people are scarier than ghosts and zombies." Sakura childishly whined as she kicked her slippers off her bed with frosting on her lips. She reached out across the bed for her purse and pulled out the crumpled envelope from before. "Here, take it. I want it out of my sight the next ten years."

Tomoyo gawked at her impulsiveness with the envelope now in her hands. She was a dire romantic and a hopeless matchmaker so this utterly broke her heart. "Y-you don't – don't even want to know his name?"

"Uh, nope!"

She crinkled her nose and questioned her friend's actions. She was being a whiny kid after all the help she and Eriol did. "What about the time and money you spent? You're just going to let that go to waste?"

"I -" Sakura looked at Tomoyo's trembling amethyst eyes and had to rethink her words. The girl took _her_ fictitious love life way too seriously; it was incredulous. But to put one man before her friends and family, hell no. "It was more like an eye-opener to me, Tomoyo. I saw that hey, I need to get my priorities straight!" She gently patted her back. "And besides, the time and money is something I can earn back eventually. Whoever the guy I got was, I'm sure he'll be happier with someone else."

She didn't even consider him finding her as an option?

"Oh, okay..." The raven-haired lady was inwardly cursing her friend for being so rash yet so optimistic but she couldn't blame her. She was the one caring a bit too much. Just a bit, right? But Sakura was unintentionally crushing her dreams – double dates, double proposals, double weddings, and not to mention conceiving a child at the same time so that their kids could go to the same school together and grow up like her and Sakura.

Sakura groaned as she could helplessly imagine the thoughts pouring through Tomoyo's mind as her eyes started to twinkled under the dim light of her room.

"He was a...9." Sakura bit her lip as a brush crept her face. Of course, she had to tell Tomoyo about the incident since it wasn't so often she had an eye on someone.

Tomoyo gasped and placed her hands over her cheeks in surprise. "The doctor or elevator guy?"

"Both."

"No way!"

The pair talked endlessly for hours until one slice of cake was left and Tomoyo was slipping in her dark violet ballet flats.

"By the way, throw that thing on your way out!" Sakura figured she didn't want to know at all anymore. It wouldn't help her in any way.

"Fine!" Tomoyo walked out the door and gave a quick wave. As soon as her back was facing the shut door, she smiled mischievously to herself as her lilac coated fingernails grazed upon the envelope seal.

Then she broke it.

As the raven-haired beauty strolled around the bustling night streets of Tomoeda, her husband's long navy blue trench coat which she said was perfect for investigation practices snuggled closely against her body. She pried the manila envelope off her eyes as she spotted a group of tall men, all with brown hair. This was her chance.

"Hey boys!" She waved her hand delightedly as she successfully caught their attention. In the back of her head, she smirked to herself. "I'll find you," Tomoyo clutched the cardstock paper tightly. "Xiao Lang Li."

Xiao Lang Li

DOB: July 13

Sex: M

Eyes: BRWN

Hair: BRWN

Height: 5'11

Weight: 160 LBS

* * *

A/N: That's a wrap! /evil grin. **REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW** (maybe I'll update faster). More SxS next chapter. ^_^


	3. Chapter 3

**[and here we go]**

Syaoran leaned against the glass wall of the skyscraper building as he heavily drank a bottle of Minesia, a popular prescribed flavorless, colorless liquid as an antidepressant. Before he started his day, he made sure he drank half a cup but only his trusted secretary, Wei, knew about this.

His amber eyes looked intently at the view below him as he carefully reminisced his days in Japan. Being back here, after a decade felt so surreal with a menagerie of emotions. Not to mention, he was now running his own headquarters away from the original one ran by his mother in Hong Kong. No more fuss about listening to father's orders and no more arguments with his sisters over what the uniform policy should be.

Even though he got the freedom and the power he had dreamt since high school, this was all temporary as he was interim CEO. He decided it'd be best to announce his official status after Eriol's wedding; it was just perfect timing that he came back to Japan when his best friend was about to get married.

He sighed as he took the elevator down over twenty floors and proceeded to walk towards the next door building, TKY Dragon Films, a productions company Li Corps had acquired to check up on their top head of Public Relations – Eriol Hiiragazawa. The Li Clan all knew beforehand that this navy-haired gentleman was perfect for the job even prior applying as the man knew how to talk. He smirked as he entered the building, seeing his friend already shaking hands with PR representatives of other companies.

Before he could interfere, he felt a pair of small slender arms wrap around his from behind. What the –

He turned around to see the gaze of a pair of hazel eyes happily look back at him. Her long blonde locks hung loosely to her curvy hips and she wore a white gown adorned with carnation flowers. Under the fluorescent light, she looked like an angel.

"Are you proud of me?" Her gentle airy voice asked with a tint of red on her cheeks.

He swallowed a lump in his throat before he could utter a response. "Saiyuri..." he whispered. It all felt like a dream.

"Long time no see!" She smiled as she fiddled with her fingertips. "I'm finally an actress under TKY, all thanks to you."

Syaoran sheepishly grinned back and rustled with his chocolate brown hair. "Me? I just gave you a bunch of phone numbers and pamphlets. You're the one who worked all the way up to the top and that's what I find so admiring about you."

Zooming out ten meters away and sitting directly across, Sakura almost gagged on her chocolate muffin at the scene playing before her. Her coworkers gave her strange glances but proceeded to carry on their usual activities in the break room.

This was exactly what Sakura didn't like! Mushy scenes between two extraordinarily beautiful people – how cliché! She swore if she were ever in a situation like this she would rid herself due to secondhand embarrassment. She also hated how she had the ears of a canine and recognized Elevator Guy aka Li's voice from a far. She put the puzzle pieces together and mentally smacked herself that she was basically not only working under her best friend's fiance but also her best friend's fiance's best friend! The world was too small and in this productions company, it wasn't very hard to find devilishly attractive people.

But still, she gave herself another mental smack in the head for making an unprofessional impression last night to surprisingly, the supervisor of supervisors. After Tomoyo's childish comment, he slid his business card to her for some God forbid what intentions and Sakura easily made a run for it after "might have dropped her keys somewhere" excuse.

"So you work here too?"

Sakura snapped out of her pensive thoughts and crooked her head up high to see him with a smug smile. This time she was seeing him in professional attire of black blazer, slacks, tie, and white dress shirt. She cursed herself for staring and nearly drooled as well-dressed men were her guilty pleasure. Had she been thinking for that long?

"I'm just Eriol's intern but I've been here longer than you, that's for sure."

'_Intern? Probably just out of college and desperately needed a job or something.'_ Syaoran mentally noted as she did look very young.

As soon as he took a seat next to her, Sakura scooted hers to an inch farther away. Syaoran quirked an eyebrow then again moved an inch closer only for her to retaliate another inch. This was getting sillier and sillier as he kept moving closer to the point where she was cornered.

With both hands up, she cried, "Okay, Li-san! What do you want?" This guy obviously did not respect her need of space.

He smiled inwardly at how amusing this girl was. "First of all, it's Li-_sama_," Sakura's face twitched but he continued, "second of all, why are you trying to avoid me? I'm technically your boss..." He leaned forward much to her dislike and squinted at her name tag. "Kinomoto."

For a second, she could have sworn a concerned look glossed over his eyes. "If you want to get to know your employees, disturbing me while I'm trying to be productive even during my break is not how you do it."

"Productive?" He snatched her sleek black phone and waved it in the air. "Korean dramas, really?"

Sakura's face turned tomato red. _Caught!_

Before she could say anything, he sighed, "Look, I just came from Hong Kong two days ago and -"

"No wonder your accent sounds funny." She muttered enough for Syaoran to send daggered glares.

_She's so childish. _

This girl, for whatever reason Eriol hired her, probably for the nepotism, Syaoran questioned her existence. She had the social intelligence of a high school freshman but the body of a model. Shame she couldn't use her image to her potential as she dressed in professional clothes too big for her body.

"I should assign you more tasks." She cringed at how the tone of his voice sharpened. "You're too lean back to be working at a company like this."

Her pink lips curved downwards. "What? I certainly do more than you think! Eriol already assigned me to speak with agencies regarding your little lover's movie, so – hrrmm?!"

Sakura nearly choked as Li stuffed her muffing back into her mouth as she was speaking. "And you talk too much."

He pushed himself out of his seat and walked towards the exit before she could say anything. "Stop playing around, Kinomoto." And he was out of sight.

Sakura sighed and wondered what the hell was wrong with him. Elevator guy was gentle and sweet then Li as a boss was toying around with her but automatically got so serious for some reason.

As her phone let out a bubble-popping sound, she automatically knew it was a video message from Tomoyo.

With a warm smile standing in front of the Daidouji Designs, her hands were folded in front of her minimalist violet dress.

"_Eriol and I are inviting you to a dinner tonight. We will be discussing our wedding plans with our best man and maid of honor so please make it in a timely manner. The address and time are listed below. Thanks Sakura! By the way, check your locker!"_

She groaned that this nearly married woman still had the time to hand craft an attire for her. Sakura was at least grateful Tomoyo's taste in clothing matured. Up until college, her designs were too ornate and vibrant and enough to make even Tomoyo cringe at the fact she made Sakura wear cat ears to her 20th birthday.

As she undid the twine wrapped around the white packaged, she was pleased to see a crisp white halter trapeze dress. To the side, there were long necklaces and a cherry blossom clip to adorn herself with. Not too simple and not too much.

.

"Don't you find it uncomfortable that we're gathering for a private dinner after an awkward encounter with these two less than twenty-four hours ago?" Eriol understood his fiance's motives but didn't quite grasp her road map on these plans of hers.

"Nonsense, this is truly a meeting with your best man and my bridesmaid about the wedding. I planned this even before yesterday, but I thought that tonight could have been the perfect time for those two to meet for the first time _appropriately_." She stated and meant what she said. She wished their best people for the wedding could have had a better way to meet each other as it would make their wedding plans cooperate more. Not that last night was a huge conflict, but she knew that no matter how outgoing Sakura was, embarrassment was a real struggle.

It didn't matter anyway. It's not like they were meant to be so Tomoyo couldn't care much over their chemistry.

"Well, here comes the devil himself now."

Behind Tomoyo strode Li Syaoran coming from the front entrance with many wandering eyes on him until he casually pulled out a seat next to Eriol.

Tomoyo giggled, "Li-san sure knows how to put on an atmosphere." He was still dressed in his tailored business suit which Tomoyo found flattering that this man could put on a show for anyone by the way he enters rooms.

Eriol chuckled as he saw the waitress bow politely at them and quickly gave them water although they did not ask for it. "It's the suit. It always makes you look incredibly tense, Syaoran."

"My pleasure." He responded dryly as he looked through the menu. He glanced up at Tomoyo only to be taken back by her sparkly eyed face. "What's wrong with her?" He blatantly asked Eriol.

"I'd invest all of TKY stocks to assume that the other one is making her way here." He didn't even move his eyes away from the menu at all to turn around to see Sakura coming from the back entrance behind him.

Sakura took her time walking towards their table as her emerald eyes wandered lost to the restaurant's warm lit decorations, highlighting her white dress that hit a few inches above the knee. Her auburn hair was tied back in a high ponytail with the cherry blossom clipped above and she wore cream canvased wedges that accentuated her legs and well, her clumsiness too.

"Shit, ah!" Sakura muttered as she awkwardly walked to the empty seat with her thick high wedges when she was already tall enough. The shoes made her legs look "freakishly long" and older than she really was.

Tomoyo giggled as she pulled out the seat next to her for Sakura. "So he's going to be Eriol's best man. Li Syaoran, this is Kinomoto Sakura – "

Syaoran nearly dropped his glass of champagne but smoothly caught it as if nothing happened.

"Yes Daidouji, we've met more than enough times."

Sakura straightened up her outfit as she sat down and scooted in towards the table, facing Syaoran. "Wah, what is this? I just saw him earlier and the day before and the day before that!" She crossed her arms and gave her infamous pout.

"Good, if that means I get to see her pretty face around then I'm not complaining." He responded so casually it took a while for her to process, resulting in a bright red Sakura.

Tomoyo smiled inwardly at how suave he was, reminding her of Eriol back in their early high school days. She was sure with Sakura's complacent personality and this guy's refined assertiveness, they'd be at least partners in crime and Eriol was probably thinking the same.

"Anyway," Eriol changed the subject to Sakura's pleasure. "we're aiming for three months at the Grand Avenue Hotel. Color scheme is lavender, white, and gold."

"Don't worry about wardrobe either, Daidouji Designs has it covered." Tomoyo continued and slid them a laminated cardstock full of names and table numbers, "This is this full guest list and seating, let us know if we should add anyone. For music, uhm...Eriol decided to hire Yamazaki and his band."

Syaoran's eyes widened in amusement. "He's in a band now? I thought he was a journalist? But then I saw his name as part of the marketing department."

"Yes, yes, and correct," Eriol chuckled. "He was fired for writing clickbait articles with misleading headlines. However, the guy works very well in our marketing department. Ethics are questionable but he can sell."

"So your first task is to pick what you want for appetizers, entree, dessert, and drinks!" Underneath the desk lugged out large glass and swiped with a stylus to bring out the menu. "I trust you two's taste so please look at this thoroughly."

Sakura's eyes widened at the infinite options and thanked the heavens that this planning-crazed girl was a fashion designer because that would have added more burden to help pick out the attire and color scheme.

"You invited mother? And _all_ of my sisters?" Syaoran frowned at the guest list.

"I didn't, they invited themselves." Eriol said as-a-matter-of-fact. "Just be happy you get to sit next to Uncle Yue."

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows. Uncle Yue could only mean her doctor Yue so that would make sense that one time she saw him at the hospital. Uncle...wait, that means Syaoran and Eriol were cousins! Sweet heavens, God gave that family a good pair of chromosomes.

"They're related by marriage." Tomoyo whispered into Sakura's ear which made chills go up her spine. Tomoyo could always read her expressions so obviously for years, she still wasn't used to it.

As the dinner carried on, Eriol and Tomoyo made sure they completed their entire wedding agenda. From decorating the venues, the precise cake flavors, music (classical for them, of course), specific "flavor palettes" for the food, Sakura's head was spinning with all of this planning. It was predictable since childhood Tomoyo would have the most fairytale-esque wedding, but she didn't think she would be this involved in it. Sakura…wasn't even the type to plan what she was doing on her weekends.

When they finally got towards the end, Sakura suddenly turned frantic on what was at the end of their agenda.

_Speeches._

"Isn't that only the best man's job?" She groaned and crossed her arms. She sucked at words.

"But I want to hear from you too, Sakura!" Tomoyo whined and reached over the table, clasping her hands over her cherished friend's. "I get to hear the rare sentimental soft side!"

Sakura gagged in response. "Tomoyo!"

"You can collaborate with Li-san!"

"I hardly know him!"

Eriol coughed so the two would remember him and Syaoran's existence.

"Sakura, just obliged to Tomoyo's request as this is our big day. You do presentations just fine -" Eriol wriggled his eyebrows at his word choice as he remembered the countless times her clumsy behavior cost his department many memos of explanations. "Syaoran will help you."

The rose gold watch delicately wrapped around Tomoyo's wrist began to play a music box version of Ave Maria. "Our wedding planner is calling!" She linked onto Eriol's arm, forcing him to stand up. "Give us a moment."

"So…" Sakura aggressively cut the tough sirloin in front of her without making direct eye contact with the man in front of her.

"So?" Syaoran quirked an eyebrow at the oddity before him.

"I guess we're going to see each other more often." The tip of the knife chipped off and Sakura sighed. "So I'll my best to be nice to you."

What Syaoran did next felt so out of character of what she envisioned him to be like. He gently smiled with a worried expression and placed his warm hand over hers, making her shiver.

"And I'll try my best not to fall in love with you."

–

**A/N: REVIEW PLEASEEEEE! **Hope you like; **your reviews motivate me to update faster!**

After a long a hiatus, here's an update! :D the CCS manga just got a reprise for the anniversary so I just had to come back here.

And just to clarify, this story is _loosely_ sci-fi/fantasy (not putting in flying cars or laser guns) as that would ruin the mood of the story but you will see small details about technological advancements throughout. Think of Spotless Mind of Eternal Sunshine or Orange?

Anyway, I'm very not happy with this chapter because I had to change the setting to the entertainment industry and I just hate clichés but I just want to move forward with this story for once. Also notice that Wei is the secretary – yeah, none of that CEOxsecretary cliché here.


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